Personal Trainer Of The Month - Kerry Kayes.

Congratulations Kerry Kayes! Kerry was chosen as the Bodybuilding.com Personal Trainer of the Month because of his hard work & dedication to improve the sport and those involved!

In British Bodybuilding circles, Kerry Kayes is as known and respected much the same way as Joe Weider is in the USA. Outside of Bodybuilding, Kerry's expertise has gained him a following of sporting and celebrity names that take up enough bandwidth to run its own show.

His years of dedication to training pro bodybuilders, professional boxers, celebrities, advising professional soccer teams, and promoting pro bodybuilding contests have not gone unnoticed, especially by Bodybuilding.com and our visitors.

Apart from being an unbelievable trainer, he is also a very humble and genuine character. So with that being said, we would like to recognize Kerry Kayes and his achievements by presenting him as our Personal Trainer of the Month.

I've never passed an exam in physical education as I have never needed to; I've owned BettaBodies Gymnasium for nearly 25 years and CNP for 10. If you work for someone you have to show exams, I've always worked for myself so have never needed them. I am self taught and first started training at the age of 16 (42 years of practical experience). I don't want people who have passed exams to feel I am disrespecting them, I have just chosen a different path.

Number Of Clients: Probably too many to mention. This is a hard one as I am not a personal trainer in the traditional sense.

One On One clients: I train Ricky and Matthew Hatton every day; I also advise nutrition to a number of strength and conditioning coaches for football teams (soccer) including Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers, Fulham, Port Vale, Derby County, West Ham and in Rugby Saracens.

Rates: I see my services as part of the backup of CNP Professional.

Background

[ Q ] When and why did you become a trainer?

[ A ] I used to work as an electrician for Yorkshire Television which was a good job but I didn't like it.

The only 2 things I knew anything about were sparking and training so about 25 years ago I left YTV and opened up BettaBodies Gymnasium, apart from promoting BettaBodies, I threw myself into full time training.

Click To Enlarge.BettaBodies.

In promoting Bettabodies and in an attempt to learn more about bodybuilding I flew over, almost monthly. I am very proud to say that my gymnasium in Denton, Manchester is known by so many people in the US including (who have actually visited BettaBodies):

To be honest there are too many names to even remember, in recent years we have been visited by WWE stars The Undertaker, Batista and only 2 weeks ago Stone Cold Steve Austin. The list goes on.

Click To Enlarge.Kerry & Oscar DeLa Hoya.

[ Q ] I know you used to be a competitive bodybuilder, can you tell me your achievements?

[ A ] I competed 14 times and always finished in the top 2. I won the Masters Britain (over 40's) in 1994 and realized that I had reached the peak of my potential. Winning the Britain was probably what gave me a good name for getting in condition and a lot of other bodybuilders wanted my advice from then.

Click To Enlarge.Kerry Kayes Competing.

[ Q ] I understand you are an IFBB promoter?

[ A ] Yes, I promoted the British Grand Prix for 6 years, 3 in Manchester and 3 in Wembley, London; it probably cost me £100,000 ($200,000) in losses, the first year in Manchester I lost £31,000 ($62,000) but persisted and every year the losses went down and the sixth GP I did in London I made £1000 ($2000), then the IFBB switched hands from Wayne DeMilia and never ran it again although I am considering speaking to Jim Manion and maybe running it again.

Click To Enlarge.Kerry & Dennis James.

[ Q ] What is your training style? What methods do you use?

[ A ] Because I train/advise so many different disciplines, I don't think I could say I have got 1 single style, if you are advising a bodybuilder then it's got to be different than advising a runner so I cut my cloth according to the athlete who needs my help.

Click To Enlarge.Kerry & Lee Priest

[ Q ] Do you have examples of client's success stories?

[ A ] I have advised so many people including quite a few IFBB Pros; most of these pros are sponsored by other supplement companies so I won't mention their names. If a personal trainer made that claim it would be hard for you to believe him, but I know that you know a lot of the people that I know so I know you will believe me.

Click To Enlarge.Kerry Working With Ricky Hatton.

I think I have advised almost every single British pro, including Ernie Taylor when he got top 8 at the Mr O. In the boxing world, Ricky Hatton stated that the advice and work I had done with him made the difference in the later rounds against Kostya Tszyu.

In fact I've advised Ricky Hatton on nutrition and strength work (being with him every day) for at least 15 world title fights. I have proven to football (soccer) clubs that quality protein in the correct amounts will reduce the incidence of non impact injuries.

An Interview With Ricky 'Hitman' Hatton! The December 8th battle between the Hitman and Floyd Mayweather Jr. has sparked a wildfire of attention from media and fans - this became the fastest sold out fight in boxing history.

[ A ] At the end of February a soap star called Scott Wright approached me and to make a documentary about getting into bodybuilding shape. I knew that he had lifted weights in the past and I had seen him some years ago on Coronation Street playing the part of Sam the Stripper and I remember thinking, he lifted weights.

Click To Enlarge.Kerry Working With Scott Wright.

He had let himself go (when I assessed him he was nearly 25% body fat). Because I knew he was an ex weight lifter and would be positive towards bodybuilding, I agreed. It left us exactly 12 weeks to a show that I am promoting which is a qualifier for the British Championships so in 12 weeks I am going to get him in shape and he has agreed to guest pose with Chris Cormier who is the guest star I am flying in.

Click To Enlarge.Kerry & Scott Wright.

[ Q ] What are the most common mistakes?

[ A ] They want it too quick too soon and don't realize it is a lifestyle thing, not a quick fix.

[ Q ] You also train professional soccer players/team?

[ A ] I don't directly speak to the soccer players, I speak to their strength and conditioning scientists/doctors/physios (they are very protective of their positions) so I have to be politically correct, there is no point in me walking in there and telling them they are doing it all wrong when they have been employed by the club for the last 2/3 years to oversee that training.

Click To Enlarge.Kerry & David Beckam.

To be fair the training that they do is pretty good, it's the nutrition that is badly lacking. I had to explain about macro and micro nutrients, how important the micro nutrients were to support all the chemical reactions in the body, how overtraining is sometimes under-nutritioned, and with the workload of a soccer player towards the end of a year where they are playing 2 games a week and trying to get some tactical training in, how it is important to have quality protein to help support repair and recuperation of those muscles.

I also explain that a non impact injury at the end of the month may have started at the beginning of the month with some micro tears of the muscle, but had dominoed because of inadequate quantity and quality of protein. This has been backed up by the stats that these football clubs take (less injuries, more ground covered in a match) which again I am proud of.

Click To Enlarge.Kerry & Ricky Hatton.

[ Q ] You are seen in Ricky's Corner all around the world, can you explain how you got that role?

[ A ] I have been training Ricky since 2002 (approx 15 world title fights). I am proud to have brought bodybuilding principles to boxing. It's fair to say that all boxers in the UK were told not to lift weights by their trainers; Billy Graham (Ricky's Boxing trainer) knew of me through his brother and had the foresight to know that bodybuilding could help.

Click To Enlarge.Kerry, Billy Graham & Ricky Hatton.

I have always said, whether you like or dislike bodybuilding, we are experts at gaining or losing weight and fights are won and lost on scales, so bringing bodybuilding dieting principles to boxing is common sense and as long as you don't try and make the boxer a bodybuilder and realize you are there to enhance his boxing and not take it over, you can help them a lot.

Click To Enlarge.Kerry, Billy Graham & Ricky Hatton.

I think it is well documented the role I have played with Ricky. Because of my work with Ricky, there are a h-ll of a lot of boxers who now lift weights and their trainers have had to concede that weightlifting will make you more explosive.

Click To Enlarge.Kerry, Ricky Hatton & Billy Graham.

[ Q ] Are you currently training him?

[ A ] Yes I am training him for a fight on the 24th of May, 2008 (the day before my Northwest show where Chris Cormier and Scott Wright are guest posing), that will be a busy weekend for me.

Click To Enlarge.Kerry & Scott Wright.

[ Q ] What is your approach to nutrition?

[ A ] I like to educate the people I help, rather than say, take this, that or the other supplement; they follow it like parrots. I like them to know why they are taking something, also with someone like Ricky Hatton. When you get 12 weeks to get him in shape and he arrives week 1 @ 40 lb overweight (again well documented) you have to give him a lot of nutrients in a low kcalorie environment which is obviously CNP supplements. If I did it with food alone, we couldn't afford the kcalories so he'd be deficient in nutrients.

[ A ] That's not my job, I'm there to advise. Obviously if I see somebody getting a bit depressed I will try and motivate them by giving them shorter term goals.

Click To Enlarge.Kerry & Arnold.

[ Q ] How have you changed you approach to clients?

[ A ] Training has not changed that much except when I first started out everything was dumbbells and barbells, now there are more machines, I still believe in dumbbells and barbells but these should be used for elite athletes. If somebody is just trying to get fit and lose a bit of weight, then machines are great.

Click To Enlarge.Kerry At The Euro Elite.

[ Q ] How do you start a new client?

[ A ] Obviously you have got to assess people that you train at the beginning, in the middle and at the end, but I'm not a big one in taking measurements and using calipers etc. for body fat, I'd rather use my eyes.

Click To Enlarge.The KK Bentley.

[ Q ] Male or Female?

[ A ] No, I don't mind, but it's very rare that I do train a female, not because I have any hang-ups in doing that, it's just that the majority of people who seek my advice seem to be men.